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Music on Reality TV is Insanely Manipulative

Tantacrul · 902.7K views · 2021-03-19 · 28:42

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Overview

Tantacrul analyzes how stock music in reality TV uses blunt, repeated tropes to manipulate viewers, comparing it to nature documentaries. He ties it to ideas of reification and cultural homogenization.

On Hacker News

Recommended as a sharp piece of media criticism by a well-liked music YouTuber, and cited for the concept of reification.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2021–2022

Topics

Media, journalism & propagandaMusic theory, synthesis & production
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tantacrulstock musicreificationreality tvmedia criticism

What people said

andensande · 2021-05 · Strong recommendation

Not related as such, but worth pointing out. The author of this discussion - and the project manager of Audacity - is Tantacrul, who is, in my opinion, one of the best music youtubers around. His video[0] on corporate music was fantastic, and his video on Shostakovich[1] made me totally reconsider his music. Plus, he's funny! So there's that. Highly recommend! [0]: [VIDEO] [1]: [LINK]

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jraph · 2021-05 · Recommendation

His reviews of the various scorewriters (Sibelius, Musescore, Dorico) are also fantastic, even if you are not into music. His review of Musescore lead him to become the project manager of Musescore, and probably of Audacity as a consequence. His video Stock Music & Reality TV - How to Misrepresent the World [1] is also really good. [1] [VIDEO]

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lozenge · 2022-12 · Reference

Your comment reminds me of the idea of reification explained here - [VIDEO] Film grain doesn't mean anything, except what the public have been conditioned for it to mean back when it was a natural chemical process.

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Sources

Video by Tantacrul, played through YouTube.

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